A Sudanese man sits next to his house in a flooded street on the outskirts of the capital Khartoum on August 10, 2013.

Heavy rain and flooding in a region north of Sudan’s capital Khartoum have killed 36 people, state media says.

“Thirty-six people were killed in Nile state and 5,000 houses were destroyed because of heavy rain and floods,” Sudan’s Radio Omdurman reported on Sunday.

Khartoum and the surrounding region were hit by heavy rains on Friday, after earlier flooding which started on August 1. However, Sunday report did not mention over what time period the fatalities took place.

The rain and lightening on Friday continued about four hours in the capital and affected even modern buildings.

The United Nations had earlier reported that downpours and flash floods in Khartoum and other parts of the African country left 11 people dead and affected almost 100,000 others in August.

According to data cited by the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), eight of the 11 deaths occurred in the greater Khartoum area.

The OCHA said that in addition to the capital region and Nile state the rain swamped five other states in Sudan.

The data also indicated that over 14,000 houses had been destroyed or damaged in the affected states.

But before the latest heavy rains, a volunteer youth group, Nafeer, provided a much higher estimate on Friday, saying that at least 14,517 houses and over 72,000 people were affected in four districts alone on the edge of Khartoum.

“Some families are still living in nearby schools and in harsh conditions; many areas are without electricity or means of transportation,” the group said.

Nafeer added that families in these areas do not have access to clean water and the unsafe tank water they have been surviving on “is sold at double the regular price.”